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07 April 2008

Accentuate the positive

I am becoming increasingly intolerant of the way newspapers and television news programs focus on negative issues. Story after story forecasts gloom and doom. This only builds negativity upon negativity and in the end people begin to think that only terrible things happen in the world.

Well they don't. Every day, moments of pleasure occur. They may be fleeting or they may last for hours, but they happen to us all. We need to grab them when they occur and we need to savour them as long as we can.

My day included several positives. I bought Jennifer Chiaverini's latest Elm Creek novel for a bargain price from someone I'd never met before. Now I can anticipate how the story may unravel. I spent several hours cutting and sewing a quilt top for someone else, using the types of fabrics I would never have chosen. This was liberating. I made and enjoyed a delicious meal for dinner. Yum.

Life is overwhelmingly good for most of us, so let's accentuate the positives and stop talking ourselves into fretful states. Tell me about the positive moments in your day, so we can all celebrate these treasured moments.

5 comments:

My positive moment for the day was when I realised that my fairly debilitation back pain has finally taken a turn for the better. With intense physio breaking through the pain it looks like I may not need scary surgery. Needless to say I am very pleased.

I agree. After our usual 90km Monday morning drive, I dropped my son at his work at 7.30am and then enjoyed a mocha and an orange and poppy seed muffin at McCafe while waiting for the shops to open. Some quiet 'me time' can do wonders.

One of the few pleasures of being ill has been living life at a much slower pace. When you go more slowly, you notice all these amazing things. Like the kid carefully practising his recorder on the way home from school this afternoon - can you remember the excitement of getting that instrumentand all you wanted to do was play? I look at the sky more. I notice changes in my garden. It seems to be that being more mindful like this is a good way to live.

BTW great news about the back, Lisa (I realise I'll have to email you about this)!

Great idea to look on the positive sides. A little boy I work with today surprised me today when he correctly named six shapes out of seven ... quite an achievement when he is considered severely intellectually disabled and is only four years old. And another little girl I have been teaching today shone with pride when she managed to add together two nine digit numbers. I knew she could do it but she didn't.